Sunday, April 25, 2010

ATLANTIS

14 comments:

I know I risk raising the ire of the film's fans with what I'm about to say, but here goes:

I find "Atlantis" to be one of the two most depressing features ever put out by Disney, the other being "Treasure Planet", and the backgrounds played a very large role in my disappointment. While the jungle and temple ruins are similar subject matter to the visuals of "The Jungle Book", the backgrounds in that earlier film are just so much richer than those in "Atlantis", for the simple reason that they were painted traditionally with gouache on illustration board, whereas the ones in "Atlantis" were all painted digitally, I believe using Photoshop. As a result, there is a rather sterile and metallic look to the colours, in my mind completely lacking warmth. Also, they painted them in a rather blobby fashion with those Photoshop virtual brushes, that makes them resemble those old paint-by-number hobby kits from the 1960s. Though I understand that this was all a deliberate design choice to get them to look reminiscent of the comic book art of Mike Mignola, on whose style the entire film was based, the resulting imagery I just felt to be dull and dreary looking, unbefitting a Disney animated feature.

I don't think its so much the fact that they are digital, but more-so the weight of the colour which is so very easily overdone with Photoshop because you know you can always erase it. With traditional painting there has to be a more definite and careful hand which in turn gives the warmth and delicacy. But I think the style suits the theme somewhat anyway. I'm not sure the Little Mermaid look and feel would have done it much justice either. They are still beautiful backgrounds.